The Joy of Running an Old Shed
Discussion
Red 4 said:
Yup. My mate bought a new Mazda 6 in '06 and ran it 'til last year. 190k miles.
Only consumables were replaced. Nothing broke ( apart from 2 tailgate struts ) and it never broke down. It didn't die of rust either, despite only getting washed, er, never as far as I could tell.
Great cars.
Odd, I had too buy two new gas struts off fleabay recently as the boot lid kept landing on my head and led to us locking the baby in the car on Xmas morning. Only consumables were replaced. Nothing broke ( apart from 2 tailgate struts ) and it never broke down. It didn't die of rust either, despite only getting washed, er, never as far as I could tell.
Great cars.
Joey Deacon said:
Is there a better shed for the money?
Probably, but the savings will be negligible. I looked here recently as my head's turned almost daily by upgrading the shed because of MPG, then find out I'd save three hundred quid a year or something http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.html
It's new car time for me!
Will sell the outgoing one for £125 (recent cambelt, test until December)
And for £150 I pick up this slab of ugly bland french cheese, with a 2.0HDI inside it on Tuesday!
Seems like an honest enough car from the sellers description
I have a cheap car I need to get shot of but really do not want to bridge as it's in waay to good condition for that.
It's a Xsara Estate. Absolute white goods and about as interesting as Steve Davis discussing porridge oats on local BBC radio. Was bought to be a functional vehicle, and it has been exactly that.
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Posted 18 hours ago
Nearly put this in the wrong place.. When did this new subforum appear!? Ok, maybe I've not been about for a while...
I have a cheap car I need to get shot of but really do not want to bridge as it's in waay to good condition for that. Cheap Roffletime!
It's a Xsara Estate. Absolute white goods and about as interesting as Steve Davis discussing porridge oats on local BBC radio. Was bought to be a functional vehicle, and it has been exactly that. The following pictures are actually from when I bought it almost exactly a year ago:
It handles *exactly* the same as any ZX estate or 306 estate (IE not bad at all), but with the added bonus of the "face only a mother could love" later front end, and the rather bulbous arse/boot.
A few details:
It now has somewhere north of 150k miles on it, but the HDi110 (the one with the intercooler) engine is absolutely perfect, and the car drives superbly well. It had a fair number of newish parts on it just before I bought it, including the radiator pictured. It has a history folder about an inch thick, and was one-owner-from-new when I got it. It cleans up really very well. Blatantly been well-looked-after (even had 4 matching Michelin tyres on it when I got it!).
Biggest issue with it is that the boot release (which is electronic ONLY) isn't working properly. The relay in the BSI goes click when you pull/press the release button, and there's volts at the BSI pin that goes to the release, but those volts mysteriously disappear between there and the solenoid that actuates the boot release. I started to hunt the fault, but very quickly ran out of arsed. I think I also unplugged one of the connectors from the BSI at the wrong time as now the car refuses to recognise the remote central locking from the key. Apparently a BSI reset will sort this. Again, lack of arsed. The boot can still be released from inside using the emergency mechanical release, and I'm sure someone with a bit more arsed will be able to fix it easily.
Other minor annoyances: Clutch bite is high, although it doesn't slip and feels fine. Thermostat is a bit tired and hence it takes a good few miles to warm up properly. A/C obviously "just needs a re-gas mate". It may do, I've not investigated. Glovebox lid is jammed, although does open with brute force. Probably fixable. Again, levels of arsed are waaay too low.
It has seen a bit of use since the pictures were taken, but a wash and a vac will see it looking pretty good for an 18 year old car. The paintwork is astonishingly good for something this age and the interior is a moderately pleasant place to be. As far as a lower-mid-range Citroen from the early 2000's can be of course.
MOT until 24 June 2020 (4-and-a-bit months). Last MOT had one advisory for a rattly droplink (shock horror). GL02BHX for the history.
55MPG is achievable if you bimble. Easily does 50MPG in normal service. Will equally easily do 35-40mpg if you drive like a lead-footed t
t, but hey, that's your choice.
Seems honest enough for £150. I had a round of spending planned for the ZX with my yearly bonus in March, so I'll just see what the Xsara needs and spend on that instead, it's 100% tidier at the very least!
Plus the wheels on the ZX are wearing a mix of 12 month old tyres (bought last bonus month in March) and 2 4 month old tyres (puncture and crap spare) so I can swap all of those over as the wheels are the same and voila, that's my biggest expense on the ZX (£30 a tyre fitted) saved.
Will sell the outgoing one for £125 (recent cambelt, test until December)
And for £150 I pick up this slab of ugly bland french cheese, with a 2.0HDI inside it on Tuesday!
Seems like an honest enough car from the sellers description
I have a cheap car I need to get shot of but really do not want to bridge as it's in waay to good condition for that.
It's a Xsara Estate. Absolute white goods and about as interesting as Steve Davis discussing porridge oats on local BBC radio. Was bought to be a functional vehicle, and it has been exactly that.
Report post
Posted 18 hours ago
Nearly put this in the wrong place.. When did this new subforum appear!? Ok, maybe I've not been about for a while...
I have a cheap car I need to get shot of but really do not want to bridge as it's in waay to good condition for that. Cheap Roffletime!
It's a Xsara Estate. Absolute white goods and about as interesting as Steve Davis discussing porridge oats on local BBC radio. Was bought to be a functional vehicle, and it has been exactly that. The following pictures are actually from when I bought it almost exactly a year ago:
It handles *exactly* the same as any ZX estate or 306 estate (IE not bad at all), but with the added bonus of the "face only a mother could love" later front end, and the rather bulbous arse/boot.
A few details:
It now has somewhere north of 150k miles on it, but the HDi110 (the one with the intercooler) engine is absolutely perfect, and the car drives superbly well. It had a fair number of newish parts on it just before I bought it, including the radiator pictured. It has a history folder about an inch thick, and was one-owner-from-new when I got it. It cleans up really very well. Blatantly been well-looked-after (even had 4 matching Michelin tyres on it when I got it!).
Biggest issue with it is that the boot release (which is electronic ONLY) isn't working properly. The relay in the BSI goes click when you pull/press the release button, and there's volts at the BSI pin that goes to the release, but those volts mysteriously disappear between there and the solenoid that actuates the boot release. I started to hunt the fault, but very quickly ran out of arsed. I think I also unplugged one of the connectors from the BSI at the wrong time as now the car refuses to recognise the remote central locking from the key. Apparently a BSI reset will sort this. Again, lack of arsed. The boot can still be released from inside using the emergency mechanical release, and I'm sure someone with a bit more arsed will be able to fix it easily.
Other minor annoyances: Clutch bite is high, although it doesn't slip and feels fine. Thermostat is a bit tired and hence it takes a good few miles to warm up properly. A/C obviously "just needs a re-gas mate". It may do, I've not investigated. Glovebox lid is jammed, although does open with brute force. Probably fixable. Again, levels of arsed are waaay too low.
It has seen a bit of use since the pictures were taken, but a wash and a vac will see it looking pretty good for an 18 year old car. The paintwork is astonishingly good for something this age and the interior is a moderately pleasant place to be. As far as a lower-mid-range Citroen from the early 2000's can be of course.
MOT until 24 June 2020 (4-and-a-bit months). Last MOT had one advisory for a rattly droplink (shock horror). GL02BHX for the history.
55MPG is achievable if you bimble. Easily does 50MPG in normal service. Will equally easily do 35-40mpg if you drive like a lead-footed t
t, but hey, that's your choice. Seems honest enough for £150. I had a round of spending planned for the ZX with my yearly bonus in March, so I'll just see what the Xsara needs and spend on that instead, it's 100% tidier at the very least!
Plus the wheels on the ZX are wearing a mix of 12 month old tyres (bought last bonus month in March) and 2 4 month old tyres (puncture and crap spare) so I can swap all of those over as the wheels are the same and voila, that's my biggest expense on the ZX (£30 a tyre fitted) saved.
Edited by beko1987 on Thursday 13th February 16:34
Currently weighing up when I stop spending on my shed.
I've traced the latest fault to what I think is a driveshaft, replacing it with new isn't happening so I'm trying to find a low mileage Ceed in a breakers yard so I can give my tame mechanic a few quid to fit it. If that solves the knocking and pull to the left (I've had the alignment checked) I'll keep it and stick some fresh oil and filters in.
If not I am considering replacing it with a leased motor. Though the frontrunner (from what I found online yesterday) would be an Octavia estate at around £280 per month. It wouldn't be a bad way to do 20k a year but I can't see even my current shed throwing over £3000 of bills a year.
I'm just wondering how much reliability/warranty convenience is worth over cash in the bank and the odd hire from enterprise.
I've traced the latest fault to what I think is a driveshaft, replacing it with new isn't happening so I'm trying to find a low mileage Ceed in a breakers yard so I can give my tame mechanic a few quid to fit it. If that solves the knocking and pull to the left (I've had the alignment checked) I'll keep it and stick some fresh oil and filters in.
If not I am considering replacing it with a leased motor. Though the frontrunner (from what I found online yesterday) would be an Octavia estate at around £280 per month. It wouldn't be a bad way to do 20k a year but I can't see even my current shed throwing over £3000 of bills a year.
I'm just wondering how much reliability/warranty convenience is worth over cash in the bank and the odd hire from enterprise.
Alfa GTV said:
Daily shed is due its MOT in March, question time - 2005 B6 Audi A4, only within the last month or so I have noticed the airbag warning light does not illuminate, key to position 2 all other lights go on then off, but no airbag light?
Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?
How is shed life after a V6 Gtv? I've still got mine but tempted to move it on but took it for a drive yesterday and really enjoyed it.Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?
Just doesn't get used much.
Big Easy said:
Salmonofdoubt said:
... I am considering replacing it with a leased motor...
I too think about leasing cars from time to time and get all excited until I realise I am paying £4500 over two years to do 10K miles in a bottom of the range car. Worse than that, this is a car I will actually have to care and worry about, I love the fact that I can park my shed anywhere and immediately forget about it until I need to use it again.
The one positive of leasing a car, reliability is far outweighed by having to pay the monthly payments and worry about it getting damaged.
My trusty 2.0 TDCi has just turned 175,000 miles old.
Had her from new. She cost £14,000 in December 2006.
Apart from DMF failure at 17,000 miles has been pretty reliable. The replacement clutch and DMF are still going strong 158,000 miles later.
She has needed 2 sets of bottom arms, two front wheel bearings, one CV boot, one battery, an alternator, a gear selector cable and an exhaust.
That aside, it has been oil changes every 10,000 miles, a few sets of discs and pads and a timing belt change at 110,000 miles.
Maintained it myself, apart from the clutch and the wheel bearings.
No DPF to worry about. With the EGR blanked she runs a little smoother just off tickover.
Now firmly in shed territory, but has just done a 550 miles round trip from Southport to Gatwick and back at 62mpg.
She has been such a useful old bus. I will cry for a week when she eventually expires.
The only thing that really appeals as a replacement is a Dacia Duster.
Here she is when nearly new.
At SRM in Aberystwyth with father in law's Norton Dominator.
Omaha Beach.
West Pennine Moors.
New TVR Tuscan chassis.
This morning...
Had her from new. She cost £14,000 in December 2006.
Apart from DMF failure at 17,000 miles has been pretty reliable. The replacement clutch and DMF are still going strong 158,000 miles later.
She has needed 2 sets of bottom arms, two front wheel bearings, one CV boot, one battery, an alternator, a gear selector cable and an exhaust.
That aside, it has been oil changes every 10,000 miles, a few sets of discs and pads and a timing belt change at 110,000 miles.
Maintained it myself, apart from the clutch and the wheel bearings.
No DPF to worry about. With the EGR blanked she runs a little smoother just off tickover.
Now firmly in shed territory, but has just done a 550 miles round trip from Southport to Gatwick and back at 62mpg.
She has been such a useful old bus. I will cry for a week when she eventually expires.
The only thing that really appeals as a replacement is a Dacia Duster.
Here she is when nearly new.
At SRM in Aberystwyth with father in law's Norton Dominator.
Omaha Beach.
West Pennine Moors.
New TVR Tuscan chassis.
This morning...
Great photo history. I can't even begin to imagine owning a car for that long....I really should try though!!
The Accord still rumbles on without a hint of needing anything doing. Only managed just over 40mpg out of this tank but i think the original 50+ was skewed by the amount of fuel left in the tank when i collected it. Still not bad for a big boaty barge.
The Accord still rumbles on without a hint of needing anything doing. Only managed just over 40mpg out of this tank but i think the original 50+ was skewed by the amount of fuel left in the tank when i collected it. Still not bad for a big boaty barge.
V6todayEVmanana said:
Alfa GTV said:
Daily shed is due its MOT in March, question time - 2005 B6 Audi A4, only within the last month or so I have noticed the airbag warning light does not illuminate, key to position 2 all other lights go on then off, but no airbag light?
Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?
How is shed life after a V6 Gtv? I've still got mine but tempted to move it on but took it for a drive yesterday and really enjoyed it.Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?
Just doesn't get used much.
Now shedding a Volvo V70, it’s not the same but then the space, heated seats, handling if you are brave and used to being at sea, and 170bhp (of course it needs more but does ok) 2.5 20v 5 cylinder engine which does make a great noise.
Well an update from the family Citroen C2 that wont start. It's pretty terminal.
Found that the timing belt was only spinning one time round when starting, then would get stuck. Aux belt kept spinning. But the timing belt would require it to be manually turned a bit further before it would do another time round and stop pretty much at the same spot. It was also seen to be jumping a few teeth whilst this was happening.
Expect its the tensioner that's failed. But as you have to remove the engine mount, and the total cost of parts is likely to be £150 minimum to repair. Plus the faff of either towing it to a friends unit or doing the job on the drive. It's a no go-er.
The car was £400, spent a total of £75 on parts (£50 of that on wheels that I'll likely get back).
Hopefully, get £200 as spares or repair, the car still has 10 months MOT.
Not too sad though, this is the great thing about sheds. The same thing could of happened to a £5000 car and then I'd be forced into paying for it to be repaired. But when its a £400 shed, I'm looking at roughly a potential loss of £200 for 2 months driving.
On a fortunate turn of events though, just an hour after realising the C2 was to be no more, a E91 came into the picture.
A friend owns it, it was involved in a bump last month which ended up writing the car off. Amazing considering its a front bumper and fog light to sort (maybe a wing too). He bought it back from the insurance company for £80.
Issues, apart from the cosmetic damage, are a slight blow to the exhaust around the flexi and an intermittent misfire. Misfire was apparent whilst my friend was still driving it, which he believes is a fault of the injectors. So it comes with a brand new set of injectors that just need to be fitted (and programmed?).
It's been deemed a category N write off, does this mean it'll require an MOT to be put back on the road?
It's due an MOT at the end of March anyway so I'm just going to take it for a new MOT next week anyhow.
I've had it up on the ramps at my friends unit and there doesn't seem to be anything that'll cause a failure.
The total cost of this BMW 318i?
£350
Found that the timing belt was only spinning one time round when starting, then would get stuck. Aux belt kept spinning. But the timing belt would require it to be manually turned a bit further before it would do another time round and stop pretty much at the same spot. It was also seen to be jumping a few teeth whilst this was happening.
Expect its the tensioner that's failed. But as you have to remove the engine mount, and the total cost of parts is likely to be £150 minimum to repair. Plus the faff of either towing it to a friends unit or doing the job on the drive. It's a no go-er.
The car was £400, spent a total of £75 on parts (£50 of that on wheels that I'll likely get back).
Hopefully, get £200 as spares or repair, the car still has 10 months MOT.
Not too sad though, this is the great thing about sheds. The same thing could of happened to a £5000 car and then I'd be forced into paying for it to be repaired. But when its a £400 shed, I'm looking at roughly a potential loss of £200 for 2 months driving.
On a fortunate turn of events though, just an hour after realising the C2 was to be no more, a E91 came into the picture.
A friend owns it, it was involved in a bump last month which ended up writing the car off. Amazing considering its a front bumper and fog light to sort (maybe a wing too). He bought it back from the insurance company for £80.
Issues, apart from the cosmetic damage, are a slight blow to the exhaust around the flexi and an intermittent misfire. Misfire was apparent whilst my friend was still driving it, which he believes is a fault of the injectors. So it comes with a brand new set of injectors that just need to be fitted (and programmed?).
It's been deemed a category N write off, does this mean it'll require an MOT to be put back on the road?
It's due an MOT at the end of March anyway so I'm just going to take it for a new MOT next week anyhow.
I've had it up on the ramps at my friends unit and there doesn't seem to be anything that'll cause a failure.
The total cost of this BMW 318i?
£350
beko1987 said:
New fog light and a heat gun to pull that bashed corner out and I'd just drive that as is! Brand new car is that...
That's the idea. Or maybe boiling water will do the trick.Well, the broken fog lamp is in the boot, it doesn't work but I'm lead to believe it's not required for an MOT. But at least aesthetically it'll be better.
Jimmy Recard said:
Bargain! Cat N is non structural damage and will not need an immediate MOT to be legal to use
p4cks said:
I might be wrong but neither a cat s or a cat n require an immediate MOT, they’re just BAU
Really? That's great! Well at least can start using it from today, then at the end of next month take it for its MOT.STIfree said:
beko1987 said:
New fog light and a heat gun to pull that bashed corner out and I'd just drive that as is! Brand new car is that...
That's the idea. Or maybe boiling water will do the trick.Well, the broken fog lamp is in the boot, it doesn't work but I'm lead to believe it's not required for an MOT. But at least aesthetically it'll be better.
Jimmy Recard said:
Bargain! Cat N is non structural damage and will not need an immediate MOT to be legal to use
p4cks said:
I might be wrong but neither a cat s or a cat n require an immediate MOT, they’re just BAU
Really? That's great! Well at least can start using it from today, then at the end of next month take it for its MOT.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff